I’d never eaten, let alone made nettle soup before shooting with Cindy of De Grénge Schapp for my show. Cindy took me to the Mëllerdall (a region in the East of Luxembourg dubbed ‘Little Switzerland’), where we foraged for wild nettles (see the note below) and cooked a nettle soup. I have to say, at first I was a little apprehensive of eating nettles – surely those thick stalks and stingy leaves can’t taste very nice? – but I was pleasantly surprised. In this soup, the nettles wilt and become soft and silky, a bit like spinach leaves. Paired with the bold flavour of Luxembourg Mettwurscht, this makes for a lovely foraged meal on the wild side.

You won’t find nettles on supermarket shelves, so put on your wellies, grab some gardening gloves, and it’s off to the fields or the forest! Generally nettle season starts in April and runs until the end of July. It’s best to pick young nettles that don’t have seeds growing on them yet, as old nettles tend to be quite woody and not very pleasant to eat. Thoroughly wash the nettles with plenty of water. Once they’re wet, the nettles should no longer sting. Remove the stalks and only keep the leaves for cooking.

You can watch us forage and cook this nettle soup here.

If you want to read the recipe in Luxembourgish, click here.

This is a recipe from my book “Home Sweet Home – My Luxembourg”.